EXCLUSIVE: Brian Belo & Ben Shillito have teamed up for a new dramedy pilot titled Team Panache. My sources tell me that the dramedy pilot is set in the world of reality television and the concept has been described as a show-within-a-show à la 30 Rock and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. I understand that the pilot is being independently produced and at present there are no UK broadcasters attached to the project, although the producers hope to place Team Panache with a major broadcaster in the coming weeks/months.
Team Panache was created by Brian Belo, with the pilot script having been written by Belo and Ben Shillito, and follows a group of twenty-year-olds intent on making it big on a reality television series. Shillito’s production company Firehouse Entertainment is producing the pilot, which I’m told is being primarily shot at Elstree Studios. Steven Lawson is directing the pilot, with Belo and Shillito producing, and Ashton Seymour serving as the executive producer. I’m told that the cast includes Belo, James Bond actor Colin Salmon, Ewen MacIntosh (The Office), Thea Knight (Big Fat Gypsy Gangster), Duncan Mais (Silent Witness), Mieke Dockley (Camelot), Francesca Brown (Tide of Whispers), Naomi Millbank and Sophie Whitelock.
The subject matter of reality television is familiar territory for Belo, best known for winning Big Brother and suing ITV and Lime Pictures over the ownership of copyright for reality series The Only Way Is Essex, which airs on ITV2. Ben Shillito’s previous credits include feature films Just For The Record and Dead Cert. The project also re-unites Shillito and director Steven Lawson, who directed both of Shillito’s previous projects Just For The Record and Dead Cert.
I’ve also been able to get my hands on breakdowns of the main characters for Team Panache, which you will find below:
Donatella – Female character in her early-20s. Donatella is the white lead singer of a well-known girl band. She is described as being fame-hungry, needy and attractive in a calculated way.
Cherry – Male character in his mid-20s. Cherry is a top-flight cricketer for Surrey and England. He is described as being athletic and charming, while also being boozy, blokey and one of the lads. He is honest, morally sound and trustworthy.
Bree – Female character in her late-teens/early-20s. Bree is a member of a well-known girl band. She is described as being attractive, level-headed, even-tempered and a bit of a girl next door.
Dave – Male character in his mid-20s. Dave is a successful pop singer and is described as being handsome, decent and mostly sensible, but an absolute hound with the ladies. He is loyal and generous, while also being somewhat secretive and contained.
Krystal – Female character in her early-20s. Krystal is described as an amoral glamour model who is fame hungry and very sensitive. She recently published a best-selling autobiography which she has not read.
Brad – Male character in his early-20s. Brad is a clever & ambitious reality TV star. Though he is white, he has a black twin brother. Brad is described as being good-looking, well-groomed and image-conscious.
Tiffany – Female character in her early-20s. Tiffany is a former reality TV star maintaining a charade of virginal innocence. She is described as being sweet and somewhat air-headed, classically attractive, commercially savvy and quite cunning.
Hoy – Male character in his mid-20s. Hoy is the son of a footballer who revels in his B-list life of luxury. He loves the limelight and is described as being utterly spoiled, odious and mean.
